Queen Himiko
Queen Himiko is the ruler of Sei'an City and Ryoshima Coast in general. The successor of the Emperor, she is a member of the Yamatai Clan and uses her family heirloom, the Crystal Ball, to predict the future. History Background Before the game, Queen Himiko was the revered and beloved ruler of Sei'an City. She ruled fairly and had great support amongst her people. However, when a terrible curse struck Nippon, the queen went into hiding, praying for her people, and soon her people lost faith in her. In her stead, she appointed Priestess Rao as regent as she retreated to her palace to keep the Crystal Ball safe and pray for her people. Ōkami When Amaterasu and Issun make it to Sei'an City and see with their own eyes what the curse is doing to the people, they set out to find and stop the source of this dark power. At that time, they were unable to see the Queen due to a sea of lava blocking their path, so instead, they stop the source of dark power, which was actually coming from The Emperor, who was possessed by Blight. After retrieving the Fire Tablet and braving the sea of lava protecting the Queen's rooms, Amaterasu and Issun confront her. Issun initially believes the queen is a demon, but Himiko reveals herself to be human, and, in fact, very beautiful, while Issun is instantly enchanted. The queen reveals the reason for her hiding: Oni Island, a dark isle which is the source of the demons plaguing Ryoshima Coast. Himiko was keeping herself in a constant trance to find the cursed island, which shifted its position every sunset using the Crystal Ball, her family's heirloom. However, finding Oni Island would take much holy power, so the queen was almost constantly praying to gain enough holy power to find Oni Island. The Crystal Ball also projected a shield keeping Himiko safe from demonic attack. The queen also revealed that Oni Island was protected by a barrier which could only be broken by the Water Dragon, the guardian deity of Ryoshima Coast, which was currently on a rampage for unknown reasons. Himiko tasked Amaterasu and Issun with finding the Dragonians, a race of people capable of controlling the Water Dragon. Amaterasu and Issun then left the queen, who continued her prayers to find Oni Island. Amaterasu and Issun failed to gain control of the Water Dragon, they instead end up accidentally killing him. Still, they managed to gain a device which could harness its power: the Dragon Orb. They also learned about Ninetails, the Dark Lord of Ryoshima Coast who was commanding all the demons in the area, and retrieved the Fox Rods, a Dark Instrument which had once belonged to Ninetails and had been stolen by the Water Dragon. Inexplicably, Rao appeared and took the Fox Rods, intending to use their power to destroy the demons. As they presented the Dragon Orb to the Dragonian Queen, Otohime, the spirit of the Water Dragon showed them one last vision of Rao being attacked at Ankoku Temple. Fearing Rao was being attacked for the Fox Rods she held, the two hurried to the temple and followed what looked like Rao into a secret passage beneath the temple, which led to Himiko's Palace. Entering the palace, the heroes found Himiko's handmaiden knocked unconscious. Proceeding to the queen's chambers, they found a horrific sight: Himiko's corpse on the floor, with Rao standing near. Rao claimed Ninetails had appeared and slain Himiko, but Amaterasu was not fooled. The sun goddess charged at the priestess, but Rao somehow managed to evade the attack. It was then that Rao revealed her true form: Ninetails. The evil demon had killed and impersonated Rao and used her guise to retrieve the Fox Rods from Amaterasu. Ninetails then transformed into Evil Rao, a hybrid of her true and human forms and swallowed the Crystal Ball to prevent it from divulging Oni Island's location, although Amaterasu defeated the demon, who spat up the Crystal Ball. Ninetails then tried to use its true form to smite Amaterasu, but the room was too small, so it instead fled to Oni Island, leaving the heroes with the bloodied Crystal Ball and Himiko's corpse. Suddenly, an apparition of Himiko appeared in the Crystal Ball. The queen revealed that her death had all been part of a cunning plan to harness Ninetails's power. While in the evil kitsune's stomach, the Crystal Ball had harnessed Ninetails's power, which could now be used to divulge the location of Oni Island. Himiko showed the location of Oni Island, showing a point directly adjacent to Watcher's Cape in North Ryoshima Coast. The crystal Ball then shattered, the price for using the powers of the Dark Lord. Himiko's spirit then ascended to the heavens, praying for Amaterasu's success as she went. Her body was buried in the lake behind her castle, among the graves of her ancestors. Using Veil of Mist in the final battle against Yami will summon the spirit of Himiko, who will give Amaterasu Spirit Globes to replenish her health. Characteristics Description Queen Himiko has long, black hair, pale skin, and appears in a heavily decorated kimono. The kimono she dons is white with a red belt, and it is under a heavy blue and red robe, with long sleeves and a long tail that touches the ground. She wears a red headband and a hat which has a white disc on fire on the very top of it. Personality Queen Himiko, although originally viewed by Issun as an incompetent and coward-like leader, is later shown as a ruler who truly cares for the people in her city. She, unable to help her people, chose to pray deep in her palace instead, doing all she could to try and set them free from the horrible curse. Gallery Himiko concept art 2.png|Artwork of Queen Himiko. himiCon.png|Concept sketches of Queen Himiko. HimikoInGame.png|Himiko as she appears in-game. Trivia *Himiko means “sun child” or “sun priestess” in archaic Japanese. **Also, her headgear resembles one of the Origin Mirrors which closely related to the Divine Retribution and the Solar Flare, which closely resembles the sun.--> **Queen Himiko is one of the very few characters in the entire ''Ōkami series to have their names in the original Japanese versions written not in katakana, but entirely kanji. Naturally, this signifies that Queen Himiko bears a strong cultural relevance and importance. *Queen Himiko could be named after the Japanese shaman queen Himiko, the ruler of Yamataikoku during the 3rd century. If this is true, then the year of Ōkami's setting would theoretically be 248 AD (though as with most historical characters/events in Okami, the dates at which they lived/occurred are often incompatible with each other). References Category:Characters in Ōkami